yS FOLLOW THE WHALE 



Nordland in the middle, and Finmark in the north. In Ohthere's day 

 Halgoland, which is now the southernmost district of Nordland be- 

 tween the island of Lekoe and Cape Kunnen on the Arctic Circle, 

 was the most northerly populated area in Norway. It is a magnificent 

 country of towering mountains and rocky islands. 



The principal reason for Ohthere's voyage was to discover new 

 herds of walrus, which were of some considerable importance to 

 the economy of the Norse, especially to their shipbuilding industry, 

 for it was from their hides that the sturdiest ropes for riggings were 

 made. The Norse knew all about the animals of the sea and recog- 

 nized that the walrus and the whale were mammals and that they 

 were related, as their names for them showed. They called the wal- 

 rus the hval-ros, or "whale-horse," though in King Alfred's script it 

 is written hors-hivael. The voyage was made around the northern tip 

 of Scandinavia and down into the White Sea, where plenty of walrus 

 were found. The account of this voyage given by Ohthere to King 

 Alfred and recorded by him in his Description of Europe contains 

 a passage that opens a little window on one of the less often men- 

 tioned activities of the Norsemen, namely that of their whaling en- 

 terprises. It goes as follows: 



The Biarmians told him (Ohthere) many stories, both about 

 their own land and about the other countries around them; but 

 Ohthere knew not how much truth there was in them because 

 he had not opportunity of seeing with his own eyes. It seemed, 

 however, to him, that the Finlanders and the Biarmians spoke 

 nearly the same language. The principal object of his voyage, 

 indeed, was already gained; which was, to increase the discovery 

 of the land, and on account of the horse-whales, because they 

 have very beautiful bone in their teeth, some of which they 

 brought to the King, and their hides are good for ship-ropes. 

 This sort of whale is much less than the other kinds; it is not 

 longer, commonly, than seven ells; but in his own country 

 (Ohthere says) is the best whale-hunting; there the whales are 

 eight and forty ells long and the largest fifty; of these, he said he 

 once killed (six in the company) sixty in two days. He was a 

 very rich man in the possession of certain other animals as well, 

 which constituted the principal wealth of his people — namely, 

 such beasts as are naturally found wild. He had then, when he 



